MINIATURIZED ELECTRO/MAGNETO-OPTIC SENSORS FOR THE DETECTION AND MEASUREMENT OF BROADBAND RF PULSES

An innovative, high-speed electromagnetic-wave-detection system based on broadband, non-intrusive, miniaturized electro-optic (EO), magneto-optic (MO), and electro-optic voltage (EOV) sensors will be developed for evaluating the effects that pulsed electromagnetic (EM) waves have on specific components of electronic systems. The suite of optically-interrogated sensors, which may be positioned within close proximity to the circuit element under observation, will be interchangeable from an external port of a single optical mainframe unit. In the optical mainframe, a continuous-wave laser source and a high-speed photoreceiver will be employed in order to achieve the instantaneous measurement bandwidth required for DoD applications. The hardware, as well as the control/data acquisition software for the sensor system, will both be developed during the STTR Phase II. Upon its successful realization through the effort of this STTR project, the EO/MO/EOV sensor system is expected to provide an unprecedented capability for EM monitoring of integrated electrical systems that are exposed to externally generated, time-varying EM waves. The information from the EM-pulse-detection system will reveal the actual EM transients that are created by incident RF pulses and that reach the components of interest, exposing the signals that may lead to temporary malfunctions or permanent damage of sophisticated electronic systems.